These aren’t your grandpa’s long johns
Vivienne’s new “Body Fit” innerwear line
And a recent experiment showed that these form-fitting garments don’t just feel cozy outside - they have a tangibly helpful effect on the body’s ability to store heat and economic benefits, too.
Long johns can cut the amount of energy the body expends to stay warm on a winter’s day by up to 20 percent, according to a recent study by the Korea Energy Management Corporation.
The study, released Dec. 14, also showed the inner thigh trapped the most heat, with other hot spots including the back, stomach and chest.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Research, wearing thermal underwear at a room temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (72 degree Fahrenheit) makes the body 0.7 degree warmer, or 0.6 degree warmer in a 17-degree room. On average, wearing long johns has the same effect as turning the thermostat up 2.4 degrees.
Women’s thermal underwear by K2
And the rise in the undergarments’ popularity has led to futuristic innerwear fashions.
“Thermal underwear is now designed with a single-layer, thin, flexible structure, and comes in new exciting designs in almost any color you wish,” said Woo Yeon-sil, the head of clothes maker Vivienne’s design team. Good People, an underwear and nightwear maker, said adults aged 21 to 40 accounted for just 14 percent of their thermal underwear sales in 2005, but that soared to 25 percent last year. That new market has led fashion and sportswear brands to cash in.
Premium pairs for every taste
Vivienne is promoting its new body fit underwear as having the flexibility of stockings. But these warm undergarments aren’t cheap - the top costs 50,000 won ($43) and the bottom 48,000 won. The brand’s men’s body fit underwear is even pricier - made from pure polyester, the top and bottom cost 60,000 won each.
The brand Triumph has taken the trend a step further, recently releasing its “belly cover” underwear to tuck in flab around the waistline (93,000 won).
The long johns boom has even fused with the organic craze, in Vivienne’s women’s three-quarter-length inner wear, which is made of organic material to avoid irritating the skin. It even comes in a thermal miniskirt variety. This line is less hard on the wallet too, with components ranging from 25,000 to 36,000 won.
Style from the inside out
A model wears garments from the Try line.
Another of Vivienne’s new collections of long underwear features dark wine-colored fabrics with brightly colored flower prints, retailing for 84,000 won, while their sexy new innerwear (85,000 won) shows a little skin in between. Elle innerwear had a similar idea, marketing flower patterns on black garments.
Wacoal went a step further, processing its flower-patterned innerwear in pearl, which it says keeps skin extra-moist.
It’s getting warmer all the time
You may not want to pay tens of thousands of won for a gimmick or a fashion quirk no one will see, but there are innovations being made in thermal underwear’s original purpose too - warmth. Try brand’s innerwear for men and women redistributes heat across the body evenly. It comes in 10 different styles and costs just 10,000 to 20,000 won each.
Yet another line of Vivenne underwear is designed to keep heat in while fighting sweat and friction against the skin. A women’s pair costs 89,000 won, while it’ll set back a man 49,000 won and 45,000 won for top and bottom, respectively.
Eider’s special winter innerwear set is made from natural antibacterial heating materials and costs 200,000 won. K2’s seamless innerwear minimizes the number of stitches necessary in order to lose the minimal level of heat energy.
To help with sensitive skin
Vivenne makes a line of innerwear with fibers made using sea algae, to keep people warm even if they have many allergies or skin particularly prone to chafe or develop rashes. They cost 89,000 won for women and 95,000 won for men. There’s also women’s innerwear made from charcoal extract (87,000 won) and men’s innerwear made from milk-based ingredients (99,000 won).
A unique material developed from hardwood charcoal in Try brand’s innerwear reportedly helps keep the skin smelling fresh. It costs 42,000 won for women and 45,000 for men.
In a unique Korean twist, BYC has even developed women’s innerwear with the scent of green tea, which costs 36,000 won.
By Choi Ji-young [estyle@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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